If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Yes, it is brighter with the 2AAA, CR2 or with lithium batteries in any of the other bodies. The more volts you give it, the more candela the Pacific emits: it does seem to have a smart regulator.

As for how bright it is, no I haven't found myself reaching for anything else, but I have good dark sight. Upon comparing the beam to my other luxIII lights, it certainly doesn't seem to be a third as bright; lumens per watt must be much better on these chips when they are under driven. Bounced off the ceiling it lights a room nicely. I haven't had a chance to take it back into the dark part of the woods yet, I'll report about its outdoors performance then.

Compared to my Matterhorns, the Pacific is bigger, but not noticeably so when pocketed. The tapered design works out well enough in reducing pocket bulk. It practically disappears in a jeans pocket with the CR2 pocket body. What is noticeable is that the Pacific is -much- brighter; the beam of my 1UP can't be seen in the Pacific beam, and the 3UP is a good bit dimmer too, though it is pure flood so it is hard to compare.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

WOO HOO!!! I got mine yesterday!!!
1AAA:
It's very bright for 1 AAA, but IMO, it is too long. It is a gorgeous light, and the machining is flawless. The threading looks very nice, but is only moderately useful. The flats on the head make it very easy to turn it when you want to, but when you don't, it stays put. I can't tell whether or not the lens is glass, but there's gooby stuff by the lux. IIRC, the lens was supposed to be easily removable, but that is not the case, I can't figure out how to open it. It's also very heavy for it's size, but that's ok because it's made of brass. I think it would be perfect for a pocket EDC for most people, but I like having really bright lights, so this isn't bright enough for me. And of course, being the flashaholic that I am, I popped a li-ion in there. It's now freakin bright. I'm not sure what bin is in there, nor what it's being drivin at, but it's not as bright as the T bins I have.
2AAA:
I also like this one, but like the 1 AAA, it is too long. The thickness (or lack thereof) of the body kinda makes up for the length. It's nice and bright. Very general usage.
1AA:
Also very nice. It's a pretty light, although I think having the head the same size as the body is kinda strange looking. It's really heavy also.
1CR2:
I especially like the pocket version of the CR2 light. It's so tiny that it just ceases to exist. It's nice and bright, now I just need to get RCR2's... hehehe...
General:
I don't see the use of the momentary switch. The same effect can be had by pressing the head down. If it were a clicky switch, I'd understand and use it, but it's only momentary. The beam is beautiful. It's like the IMS 17, but with a tighter beam. I like it a lot. It's perfect for whatever use I may have. This series of lights is really nice. I like them a lot. Brass, IMO, is a bit heavy for EDC, but the HA3 versions will be perfect.

Until next time....
Oh yeah, I've got some pics, but they're on the other computer.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Here's a little longer review with pics.

I received my “kit” yesterday but of course had to wait until it got dark to start the review. Got the package in the mail and it was heavy! My first impression was, “What the heck did they send me?” As others have already pointed out Peak sent out one head, one momentary switch, one of each body style, four AAAs, and one AA. I wasn’t expecting all of this gear but I think it makes sense to get the reviews for each style since they will all be available soon. I do not have any CR2 cells – yet – so those bodies styles will have to wait - but because the active part of the light is the same I would expect only be subtle differences in the output and some difference in the run time. For the most part body style selection will be a matter of personal preference of form factor and battery type rather than overall performance.

Review.
I have compared the Pacific in the different AAA and AA body types against a well worn Solitaire with a recent LT-3 upgrade (reflector base was ground down to improve focus), a Fenix L1P, a Mini-Mag 2AA with a TLE-5 upgrade, and a stock Mini-Mag 2AAA.

Top: Fenix Alkaline, Pacific 2AAA Alkaline, Solitaire LT-3 Alkaline
Bottom: Fenix Alkaline, Pacific 2AAA Lithium, Solitaire LT-3 Alkaline
Obviously a little auto white balance shift between first two and second two shots but still gives a good relative comparison in terms of tint and brightness between the three.

Top: Fenix Alkaline, Pacific 1AA Alkaline, Solitaire LT-3 Alkaline
Bottom: Mini-Mag 2AA TLE-5 Alkaline, Pacific 2AAA Alkaline, Mini Mag 2AAA stock Alkaline
Obviously some more white balance issues with the camera. Color is much closer to the top image of this last series than the bottom. The center beam is the Peak in all shots - just different battery combinations. I would say that the actual color is very white with maybe a hint of yellow - definitely not the blue or green as rendered by the auto white balance of the camera in some of these shots.

Faint ring artifact seen with exaggerated brightness

I tried some room corner images with alkalines but with my camera only the Fenix showed up very faintly. If I get a chance I will try again and see if I can up the sensitivity of the camera and also try with the 2AAA body and the lithiums with appeared to be identical to the Fenix in the outdoor testing.

White wall beam quality
The beam characteristics are almost identical to the Fenix in terms of angular size of the hot spot and spill and tint. The overall quality was slightly lower than the Fenix. My unit had a slightly asymmetrical hot spot, slight artifacts in the spill, and the thin light ring about 10 degs outside of the spill – may be due to the brass housing. There is also a slight yellowish tint to my eyes. In my opinion, these are very slight differences that can only be seen under side-by-side white wall comparisons. None of these differences were noticeable in the practical comparisons.

Practical beam quality.
The beam of the 2 AAA body with 1.6V lithium batteries was identical to the Fenix L1P in my subjective outdoor at night testing in terms of throw, hot spot size, spill, and color. Using the 1 AAA or 1AA body dropped the brightness slightly and reduced the throw relative to the Fenix – as a rough guide I was able to make out detail in the woods at 70’ with the Fenix and 60’ with the one cell Pacific bodies. Again with the two lithiums there was no difference. One interesting note was that I found the hot spot with the 1AAA body to be almost clearer at a 10’ range compared to the Fenix – a reasonable walking at night range. The Fenix hot spot is almost too bright for close distances – a bit of a night vision killer. Of course the best solution would be to have a two stage light – hint hint.

The practical light output of the single cell Pacific was similar to the modded 2AA Mini-mag but the beam quality of the Pacific is better.

The modded Solitaire is much better than a stock Solitaire but there is no comparison to the 1 AAA Pacifc. The modded Solitaire showed about the same level of detail in the woods at about 20’ relative to the 60’ of the 1 AAA Pacific.

The stock 2AAA mini-mag had close to the same throw in a very tight focus with no spill but the useful light is much better with the Pacific. This advantage would be even more pronounced over even a short time considering the drop off characteristics of the stock mini-mag.

Run times
No time for testing yet and will be out of town so I will have to update this next week – if no-one gets to it before me.

Size
The diameter of the head of the Pacific a little smaller than the mini-mag 2AA, identical to the Fenix, slightly larger than the mini-mag 2AAA, and a lot larger than the Solitaire. Length of the 1AAA with the key ring attachment is slightly longer than the Fenix and about half an inch longer than the Solitaire. AA body is slightly larger than the AAA body. 2AAA body is about half an inch longer than the 2AAA mini-mag.

There is a large amount of un-machined metal in the wider bodies by the tail cap threads, which adds a fair amount of weight to these models

Quality
The workmanship is very nice. Threads are smooth. Knurling is well defined but not sharp – this is a good thing. The only quality issue that I found was a slightly sharp tip on the end of one of the key ring caps. It looked as if it had not been fully turned and just a very small bit of metal remained. It was not sharp enough to be dangerous but it could snag material going in and out of a pocket. All the other tail cap tips were smooth.

Switch
The basic switch is a twisty. The light can easily be turned on and off with one hand. As mentioned in the quality section the threads are very smooth but the o-ring combination felt a little on the loose side to me. When turning the light off it felt like the cap could continue to unscrew itself or turn back on if carried in a pocket but I haven’t had the light long enough to test this yet. I’m sure this is a very difficult balance and a very subjective area but it just feels like there is not enough resistance in the o-ring to keep from unscrewing inadvertently.

On a personal note, I don’t care for twistys that much – especially this type of twisty. I much prefer the Mag style, which turns the light off when screwed in. The screw in off twistys reduce the size of the light, ensure a good seal before storing and can be “locked” in the off position with a little torque. And most importantly it’s easy to determine if the light is off position with a quick feel. Maybe I’m just a fidgety person, but I often reach into my pocket to give my Solitaire a quick twist check and I can tell immediately if it’s in the off position without retrieving it. There is no way to test the state of the Pacific without inspection.

Momentary option. To change the switch, you need to remove the tail cap, remove the negative contact plug – with a small screwdriver, screw in the momentary, and tighten with some pliers. The quality of the momentary switch that I received was not as nice as the rest of the light. There is a rough almost scraping sensation when pressing the switch with any amount of side pressure as if the plunger or barrel was not thoroughly machined or finished. Once installed the light can be turned on with the twist or used momentarily with the switch – as long as the head is screwed on the right amount. When I first tried the switch I put it on hand tight only and the light flickered when using it and would not turn on with the twist switch. To be used effectively it should be put on with tools. The momentary protrudes beyond the end of the light so it makes it susceptible to inadvertent use if carried in a pocket – although the spring should make if difficult to stay on, it could happen if someone was sitting in just the right way.

And the money question - Will I use it?
I’ve carried a Solitaire on my key ring for close to twenty years. I like the form factor of AAA light. When the “Ocean” was announced I was looking for a Solitaire replacement but even though the beam quality is much better, the size and weight of the 1 AAA brass version will probably keep it out of my pocket. I had the same hope for the Fenix but feel that it is too large as well. The Pacific is closer to the size of the Fenix than the Solitaire. To be fair I’ll give it a try for a while and report back but it is larger and heavier than I hoped. The aluminum version might be a better pocket choice. One the plus side, I do like size and feel of the 2 AAA version and will probably end up using that body more. It won’t be my pocket light but it will likely replace my modded Mini-Mag and possible the Fenix. I like the feel and balance of the two battery bodies for non-pocket lights.

Suggestions
Reverse twisty – or some other way to ensure light is off when it is in your pocket – for example some type of mechanical stop or tactile detent.

I like the idea of changeable tail caps that add functionality but they should have the following characteristics. Changeable without tools. Changing the options should not interfere with being able to put the light on a key ring or standing it on the tail. It may be a good idea to have a secondary key ring attach point on the side of the tail cap or body.

Because the momentary requires tools it’s not really field replaceable and it eliminates the key ring option. The decision of how to use the light has to be made well in advance of the change over which does not take full advantage of the interchangeability. It would be nice if it could be changed without tools and if there was a way to store the interchangeable parts with the light when not in use. The negative terminal is very small and easily misplaced. Providing a screw in storage receptacle for the changeable options that could attach to a key ring would be a nice feature to allow the owner to keep these small parts with the light or even just better organized wherever they end up being stored. And speaking of changeable options, a full clickie would be a nice step up from the momentary, a two stage clickie would be better, and even some electronic flash or dim options might be nice in the future. If Peak can standardize on this tail cap design across multiple products it could encourage some more 3rd party options to fill these enhancement areas as well.

If these were production units, check the QC of the finishe on the tip of the key ring caps.

There may be an opportunity to remove a little more material in the tail of the 1AA and key ring CR versions to reduce some weight

For the group
If there are any questions or additional inspections or comparisons someone would like me to run just ask. I’m going to be on vacation for a couple days but I’ll bring this gear with me and may be able to log in and answer some questions.

MJ thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in this test and for sending the full suite – that was a nice surprise. This is a very versatile platform and should satisfy a lot of potential customers. The beam is very nice and if the runtimes test out as advertised this is an impressive engineering feat.

One question, now that a few of us have some extra bodies any chance of purchasing some heads separately?

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Yes - There are 2 CR2 body styles one with the tail cap options, which will take the momentary switch (in place of the keyring tail cap - can't have both at the same time) - and one body without any options - lug style.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Great reviews!
With so many battery configurations, the Pacific can morph into many different lights when needed. Generally, I will use it as a lithium AAA keychain light but it will switch to a lithium AA power failure light when need. (for instance, right now I am in the middle of an 8 hour power failure)
Since CR2 batteries cost $5 each around here, don't see much of a use for one although I won't be in Turkey forever. Have 12 lithium AAA batteries in my battery box and those are earmarked for my keychain lights.
Very pleasant surprise about the "smart" regulator, the 2AAA body looks very good and I can see a lot of them sold in that configuration. Make it stainless steel, put a pocket clip on and maybe the docs I work with will use it for medical purposes.
The HA-III version is a week away from being available so I wonder about the optional bodies. I want the optional single AA and 2AAA HA-III bodies to run a few alkalines through them. Since the Pacific regulates well, alkalines are fine and should give very long 5 hour + runtimes.
The Fenix L1P v2.5 was a smash hit with OK regulation and good brightness in the single AA form factor. The Pacific is "slightly" less bright but has much longer runtimes, better regulation and different battery styles to choose from at basically the same price. It would be interesting to see it compared to a Fenix L1P v2.0 to see if it out shines it and has longer runtime.
After reading Don's review, looking at the different configurations and checking out the beam shots--it is obvious that the Pacific wants to cover all lighting needs in the keychain (CR2 or AAA), single AAA/AA and 2AAA with one light.
It would not shock me to see a switch come out for the series to change brightness levels. I think that regulator is a lot "smarter" than first appears and MJ being the perfectionist she is, there is some magic that has not been released yet.
I am going to purchase mine in HA-III with optional bodies so patience is a virtue. Thanks for all the reviews and I look forward to getting mine.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Nice work Don! After reading your review I've decided that there is really not much more I could add to your impressions of the Pacific.
I received my kit on 1/18/06.

I will say that for me the Pacific is too large to be a keychain light, in any of it's configurations. It is also very heavy in the brass version.

On the plus side I love the color of the beam and the runtime is great. I did do a runtime test pitting the Pacific AA vs a L1P using Energizer 2500's. The L1P starts out brighter but in two hrs. the L1P is about done and the Pacific is still going strong. I know the runtime of those two lights is not new news but it was different seeing the results in person and made me appreciate the attributes of the Pacific even more.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Originally Posted by Freedom1955

On the plus side I love the color of the beam and the runtime is great. I did do a runtime test pitting the Pacific AA vs a L1P. The L1P is starts out brighter but in two hrs. the L1P is about done and the Pacific is still going strong. I know the runtime of those two lights is not new news but it was different seeing the results in person and made me appreciate the attributes of the Pacific even more.

Thank you for the runtime VS the Fenix L1P. I was messing around with my stock L1P (my MillerMods 1.7 watt version is a helmet light) took a small velcro strap, two pieces of rubber above and below the strap and two zip ties. Zip tied the L1P on top of a rubber strap (keeps it from moving) the velcro strap under it with the last rubber strip below it to grip the bicycle helmet. Strapped the L1P to a friends helmet for a quickie helmet mounted light and it works well! She likes it alot but would be happier with an AAA version that is about the same brightness.

Enter the Pacific AAA. When I get my order (think of going for two) I do the strap the light on a helmet trick to see how bright it is in comparison. If it is close, that will be part of a basic helmet light system. The point of it is for people to see you, not to be a throw monster. Having a lighter, smaller light with 3 hours of runtime on an alkaline AAA will make my quickie helmet lights even more desirable than with the L1P. A twofish mount/streamlight propolymer 4AA Luxeon frame light completes the under $100 LED cycling light combo set.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

The only thing that I think is worth adding right now after Don's excellent review is to emphasize the battery life of this thing. I compared run times to my other peaks running on snow29's and more than three hours later the Pacific was still much brighter than the 1UP Matterhorn on new cells. I had always thought they were great for runtime given the limitations of running off a single cell, but I guess I was wrong. Unless these Toshiba batts they sent with it are really that much better than the fresh Rayovac Max I had in the Matterhorns, this new circuit is a real electron-miser! Its also worth noting that even after running for hours while standing on a table, it was room temperature, unlike the two Matterhorns which were slightly warm. In fact, I can't think of any torch I have that doesn't heat up at all, even when run for hours like that.

Did anyone else notice that in the 2AAA body, the entire negative terminal assembly, including the threaded tail plug/switch receptacle itself, unscrews? Why?

Oh, and I suspect that the reflector casing can be unscrewed from the emitter/electronics package to change lenses. Notice the hairline on the battery end of the head, where it meets up with the casing? And the two flat faces just above the threading to help unscrew it? I don't have a wrench around that is appropriate for use on brass, so I could be wrong. . .

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Hey guys, I got my package on Friday, but had company all weekend, so I finally got to play with the Pacific this evening.

Let me say first that I very much appreciate getting to be a part of the beta testing and was very surprised to get all the available boddies and options, Thank You Peak Led Solutions and MJ.

I won't bother with shots comparing size as Don seemed to get all those taken care of quite well. If anyone wants a size comparison with anything I have, just ask.

I took a few quick pictures in my house as I didn't want to stand outside in the less than tropical 22 degree night. I didn't have a tripod, so some may be a little blurry, but it should give you a general idea of how the Pacific compares to my Carribean, L1P, Inova T3, Minimag w/nite-ize, and my Inova 2AAA Radiant with original led and with snow led.

I guess I should mention that the window blinds are about 22 feet away.

For some reason my camera didn't seem to pick up much of the spill on any of the Pacific pictures. It does put out a usefull amount of spill light, but I guess my camera didn't think so. I will need to check out the settings and so forth on my camera to maybe get better pictures, it was just on the auto setting.

Inova Radiant 2AAA w/snow ledhttp://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?i...antsnow1ry.jpg
This was my experiment to get rid of the hideous blue in the stock light, that works, but got a little dimmer too. I use this light every night after lights out. The Pacific I believe will be a little too bright for this task. I may switch over due to the much brighter hot spot of the Pacific, I can see whether or not the doors are locked from further away, deffinately an advantage of the lux with good reflector over the 5mm with small reflector.

Overall:
My overall opinion on this new series from Peak is generally very positive. I'm a brightness kindof guys, so of course it could be a little brighter, but I'm sure I'll enjoy not having to change batteries very often.

The one thing I have found so far that I didn't like was mentioned by Don above, and its that the O-ring seems a little undersized. There is very little resistance to turn the light on or off. It doesn't matter which body is used, they are all loose, which says something for their good machining abilities. My Carribean is not like that at all, so I'm assuming this is not a normal characteristic of Peak lights.

As you can see in my pictures, the light output is a little on the yellow side. This doesn't present a problem to me as I don't notice unless I'm using two lights at once, and I don't find myself doing that. When in use by itself, to my colorblind eyes, it presents no problem.

Others have said the size is an issue for them, I don't mind the size since any light is too big for my keychain. I simply carry my lights in my pockets, I've never truely understood the keychain thing, oh well. With that in mind, the CR2 pocket body is about a half inch shorter than my Carribean pocket body and the diameter seems a little smaller too. Thats about a quarter of an inch shorter than a chap stick container or tube, whatever you want to call it, and only a little wider or thicker. I'm excited to see what kindof output it will have on a CR2.

Answers to questions:
Will the head fit on other light's bodies, I don't know about the lights you mentioned, but it is much too small to fit the carribean body.

As for the notches on the inside part of the head, I'm assuming that the outside protion of the head (when screwed into a body), will detach from the lower part of the head with the electronics and the reflector and lens will come out. MJ did mention something about a lens kit, so maybe this is how the lens is changed.

Battery life/checking Peaks' adevertised runtimes: I have not done any tests and since I have no way of measuring light output, I don't plan on it. I'll take their word for it.

The issue of weight has been raised and, yes the beta versions were made of brass, and yes they will be heavier than AL versions should be. If anyone wants, I can take the some parts or all to work and weigh them. My carribean is brass, so obviously I don't care much about the weight issue as long as it doesn't drag my pants down. I kindof like the feel of a heavier light, makes it feel more solid if that makes any sense. I also like the look of brass as it ages.

I do have one question though, is the momentary switch water proof, or does installing it on the light jepordize the water resistance. I don't have much use for it, but can deffinately see a use for someone who does a lot of quick inspections in computer boxes, junction boxes or other small dark places.

I hope this was helpful to at least one person. Again I appreciate getting to be a part of the beta testing and welcome any further questions.

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Thanks, tsi. Very helpful info., esp. the photos. Seems like a typical Peak high quality light, but I am still trying to figure out how it fits in the scheme of things and whether it's one I want (I started to say "need", but couldn't keep a straight face).

Re: Beta Tester Impressions of the Pacific

Originally Posted by xochi

They are high quality , nicely built lights but whoever is designing these things is clueless. Either that or they are made larger than they need to be to make them cheaper to make. At this point Peak doesn't even come close to the Fenix L0P even if it is better made and higher tech electronics. They totally missed the point!

Whose point, exactly? If the point were to build a Arc-P replacement, I guess that's a failure. If the point were to build a L1P competitor that gets ten freaking hours on a lithium AA battery, then. . .well, it's a sharp point indeed. Sure, it's not quite as bright for first hour or so: granted. To my eye, it's not that significant to take the shine off that runtime, particularly when the pacific is on three volts. Expecting people to conform to your expectations is bound to end in disappointment

Originally Posted by xochi

I mean what good is a AAA based light that is as big as a AA light?:

I find a AA light that can use AAA batteries in a pinch very useful, actually. But, I guess utility is lost on the clueless.

Originally Posted by xochi

Perhaps it would have been better to do a pass around than to bribe cpfers with free lights.

I'll buy yours for 25 if you feel so bribed.

I don't feel that way, I feel like we're trying to make this the best it can be; like this is a noble experiment in community product design. I don't want to come off as an appologista or anything, but I didn't see a single helpful thing in that post, as there is no chance that the torch can be modified to be the torch you seem to want. Now, I'm going to have suggestions; I think we all will in this way or that soon. That's the whole point of throwing some of these things down to us now; not as bribes, as a way to get informed opinions from people. That's the irony; it is a pass around, except we get to keep the examples.